Her Pretend Lover
by Only-eyes-for-Riddick
Summary: Alara's ex-boyfriend wants Alara back, but she wants nothing to do with him. In a panic, she accidentally reveals she is dating a better man. Only she isn't. Now she needs a fake boyfriend, but it gets more complicated than she originally thought.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the Orville. **

**After my first Alara/Gordon story I was asked if I could write another one. So, I thought of another idea and decided to give it a try. Hope you enjoy it. :)**

* * *

Alara couldn't believe what she was reading at her station. She was aware that they would be receiving an ambassador they would be transporting to Outpost 48 to attend a peace conference. She had already made the arrangements to bring him onboard.

What she hadn't realized was that the ambassador was her ex-boyfriend, Malik. The same ex-boyfriend that had left her when she decided to go into the military. The same ex-boyfriend that had broken her heart when he viciously dumped her only minutes before she went off planet and joined the Union Fleet.

The words he had flung at her on that day still rang in her head and hurt her, but she was able to push it out of her mind most of the time.

Now he was going to be onboard for at least a month, a constant reminder of a time when men weren't worried about her strength. A time when she really considered giving up her dream of the military and getting married, remaining on Xelaya instead of seeing the galaxy.

"Alara?"

Alara blinked before turning, aware of both Ed and Kelly looking at her. She knew then that someone must have said something to her.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"We were just asking you if the ambassador was enroute?"

"Oh," Alara cleared her throat. "Yes, the ambassador's shuttle is heading toward shuttle bay now."

Kelly nodded, the look in her eyes clearly indicating that she knew something more was going on. "Very well, let's head down there now to greet him."

Alara could feel a slight panic come over her at those words, but she couldn't ignore her duties. She stood and followed Ed and Kelly to the shuttle bay, ignoring the nervousness she carried with her.

As they entered the shuttle bay, the shuttle was setting down and the opening up. The first person off the shuttle were two men carrying supplies and then she saw him.

He was tall and handsome, just as he had been when they were finishing school. Those dark eyes and dark hair sweeping across his forehead, almost covering the markings of a Xelayan there. He was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a white shirt. He smiled as he approached the group. He still had the best smile.

"I'm Malik Nextron. You must be Captain Mercer," he shook Ed's hand.

"Yes," Ed replied with a smile. He turned to Kelly. "This is Commander Grayson."

"Nice to meet you," Kelly said smiling.

Then Malik turned to her and Alara had to force herself to keep herself calm. She wanted nothing more than to run from this, but she couldn't.

"Alara Kitan," Malik said, the tone of his voice instantly telling Alara that he was well aware of how uncomfortable she was around him. "It's been too long."

"You two know each other?" Kelly said with genuine interest.

"We knew each other back on Xelaya," Alara forced herself to say, her voice calmer than she anticipated. "If you will follow me, I'll escort you to your quarters."

Malik's smile widened, causing Alara's heart to skip a beat. He was still so damn attractive. Too bad it was just covering a bad personality inside. "Lead the way."

As they left the shuttle bay, she felt Kelly's eyes on her back. She knew that she was going to have to explain this later. No one knew about Malik because they didn't need to know about him. She just wanted to forget, but that would be impossible now.

"So," Malik said leaning in closer to her as they walked, "how have you been since you left Xelaya?"

"I've been well," she replied, moving farther away from him.

"You know, I've been thinking about you lately," Malik said softly. "I even requested the Orville be the ship to take me the conference all so I can see you again."

Alara paused and turned to Malik. "What?"

He smirked. "I wanted to see you again. I've often thought about you since you left me."

Anger filled her. "You dumped me," she said firmly. "Because you wanted me do nothing more than stay at home and raise children and I wanted more."

Malik chuckled. "You wanted to play soldier and I decided to indulge you." His eyes ran over her form. "It actually did wonders for you. You look better now than you did in school."

He took a step towards her and Alara took one back.

"I think that we can pick up where we left off. You can leave the Orville and come with me to the conference and then back to..."

"I have a boyfriend."

Malik's smile fell and his eyes widened as he really looked at her. Alara glared at him, anger flowing through her veins.

"A boyfriend...?"

"Yes, and he's ten times better than you."

Alara turned and continued down the hallway, slightly aware that Malik was following her slowly.

She couldn't believe his arrogance. He thought that she was just going to come running back into his arms the minute he snapped his fingers. It angered her on every level. She didn't mean to blurt out that she had a boyfriend, but she wanted him to stop talking to her like she was his possession that he had just shelved temporarily.

When she reached his quarters, she entered the code and the door opened. "These are your quarters."

Malik walked to the door and then stopped and turned to Alara, a sly smile upon his face.

"I'll see you around Alara and I cannot wait to meet this man you believe is better than me."

As the door closed between her and Malik, Alara realized just what had happened.

She told Malik she was dating someone. How was she going to keep up that ruse?


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope that you are enjoying my story. I do not own the Orville or any of the characters.**

* * *

"Eat this," Gordon said handing Bortus a plate with a ghost pepper on it.

"Dude!" John said in surprise as Bortus picked up the pepper. "That's crazy!"

Bortus looked at the pepper before opening his mouth and set it inside, eating it in a couple bites. Gordon's eyes were wide with excitement, his smile filling his face.

"I can't believe you ate that!" John said with a slight chuckle.

As they laughed, Gordon became aware of a body sitting in the chair next to him. He turned and found Alara sighing.

"What's up?"

Alara looked up at the guys before running a hand through her short hair. "I just did something stupid."

"What's that?" John asked, leaning forward.

"Well, you know the ambassador we are taking to the peace conference? He's my ex."

"No way!" Gordon said in shock. "Small galaxy."

Alara rolled her eyes. "Turns out he knew exactly where I was stationed and requested this ship specifically so he could try and get back together with me."

"Isn't that good?"

Alara narrowed her eyes at Bortus. "No, it was not a good break-up. He was acting like I was his property." She shuttered. "Gross."

Gordon leaned back and rested his arm on the back of Alara's chair. "Maybe he was nervous. I mean I would be if I ran into my ex."

She shook her head and turned to Gordon. "It wasn't like that, trust me. Then I opened my big mouth and said that I..."

"So, this is the boyfriend that is ten times better than me?"

Alara's eyes widened as she slowly turned to find that Malik was standing behind her, a smirk on his face as he looked down at her and Gordon.

It was at the moment that she realized just who he was talking about, with the way they were sitting how could he not. Her body was turned towards Gordon, his arm on the back of her chair. It was almost intimate.

She had worked closely with Gordon for so long that things like this were commonplace. They were all that comfortable with each other. She just hadn't realized how that would look to an outsider.

"What are you...?"

Alara quickly moved, leaning over and placing her hand on Gordon's that was still sitting on the table, silencing the red-head. She smiled and gave Gordon a look that said shut the hell up.

"Yes, my boyfriend, Gordon."

The other two men at the table were now watching the situation unfold with wide eyes, but luckily Malik's gaze was on Gordon, who was smiling a very uncomfortable smile.

"It's nice to meet you. We will have to get together and talk later." He glanced at Alara. "About a lot of things."

"Things that will have to wait until much later," Alara said firmly, as she moved a bit closer to Gordon, hoping to keep Malik off of Gordon's clear confusion. "We are expected on the bridge later."

Malik smirked, his gaze flipping between Alara and Gordon. "Of course," he said firmly. "Until then."

Malik left the mess hall and Alara relaxed.

"So..." she turned, suddenly aware that she was still holding Gordon's hand, "when did we start dating?"

Alara quickly released Gordon's hand with a nervous chuckle. "Well, funny story."

* * *

Gordon sat at his station still thinking over what Alara had told him in the Mess Hall.

She used to date Malik, they broke up and now she was pretending to have a boyfriend because Malik was trying to get some sort of booty call from her.

Gordon just happened to be sitting next to her when he walked in and Malik made the jump that he was the guy Alara was seeing.

It was like one of those old 20th century movie setups where a couple pretends to date to make someone else jealous or something. He never watched those movies, they weren't his thing, but he had heard of the plots of a few over the years.

Luckily, once they reached Outpost 48 in a few weeks, Malik would be off the ship and everything would go back to normal. Alara had gotten both John and Bortus to swear to secrecy until this was over. However, Gordon knew that if anything delayed this for too long, they would be unable to keep this whole thing a secret and he wasn't sure how they would explain it.

Honestly, he was shocked that Alara would just go along with a plan like this. She hadn't given him the details, but even Gordon could make out that Alara still wasn't over whatever it was that had caused the break-up with Malik. It was the only thing that would make sense as to why she was going about this ruse.

However, he had no idea why she just went along with Malik's assumption that he was her boyfriend. It would have been better for Alara to deny it than go with him, especially since she had told Malik that her boyfriend was ten times better than Malik was.

Gordon knew that he was the best pilot in the fleet. He also knew that at the end of the day, he was just that, a pilot. He wasn't smarter than anyone else in the fleet or even most others on this ship. Choosing him made little sense when comparing him to Malik who was known for his expertise in peace negotations.

Gordon shook his head mentally and focused on flying the Orville to Outpost 48. The sooner they arrived, the better.

* * *

Alara glanced at Gordon from her post on the bridge.

He had taken her story and request to pretend he was dating her in stride. She hadn't expected Malik to show up and make such an assumption about them, but for some reason she knew that Gordon would help her.

He was loyal and a great friend. She was grateful that he had decided to help her, even if she wasn't sure how this was all going to play out.

Luckily, the only people aware of this whole thing were John and Bortus, both of which would keep quiet about this, she and Gordon, who she knew wouldn't speak about it, and Malik, who didn't know anyone on the ship to tell.

The chances of this getting out were small and they were just a couple weeks from Outpost 48.

They just had to pretend till then.

* * *

Once back in her quarters, Alara allowed herself to relax on her couch. It had been a long, boring day, just part of a long and boring week. Luckily, Malik seemed to be taking her bluff and just continued to watch her rather than engage in conversation. Gordon only had to sit next to her so far to keep him at bay.

She took a deep breath and was about to go change when her video screen beeped indicating a call.

Slightly confused, Alara answered only find herself looking at her parents. She didn't know why they would be calling her.

Or why her father looked angry and her mother was smiling in a weird way.

"Mom? Dad? Is everything okay?"

Her father turned away as if upset, but her mother smiled even wider as if she was ready to burst.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Alara narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Tell you?"

"I'm sure you were just worried about how your father would react. Don't worry, he'll get over the fact that his son-in-law is human. I'm just so happy that you have someone special in your life!"

Alara froze. What had her mother just said?

"We have to start planning soon. I'm sure it would be impossible to have the wedding on Xelaya since he's human, but I'm sure..."

Alara stood, her mind racing. What the hell was her mother talking about? "Mom, what are you talking about?"

Her mother chuckled. "You don't have to pretend. Malik told us all about your fiance."

"Malik did...?"

Alara felt anger fill her as her mother continued talking about wedding plans.

Malik was always very perceptive, but she thought that she had put on a convincing enough act that he hadn't picked up on the fact that she was lying about dating Gordon.

She thought that this would only last while Malik was on the ship because they were the only ones who knew about this situation, she didn't expect it to leave the ship. Malik calling her parents was unexpected and completely out of line.

"There won't be a wedding!"

Her father's voice brought her out of her thoughts. He was usually a quiet man, but right now he looked so angry that she thought he might burst.

This was her out. Her father would never allow her to marry someone he hadn't met before, especially a human. She relaxed. All she had to do was let him take care of it. He could easily talk her mother out of accepting a human son-in-law.

"I refuse to acknowledge my daughter marrying a human. There are plenty of available Xelayans here she could have if she would just return home."

Her mother laughed. "You can't control who your daughter falls for any more than you could control where she went to work. You may not like it, but if Alara loves him enough to marry him then you should at least give him a chance." She smiled at her husband. "You should meet him before you judge him."

Her father's face started to relax as he looked at his wife, which worried Alara. He looked like he wanted to object but then took a deep breath and sighed, all anger seemingly gone suddenly. "You're right. I should at least meet him."

Alara's panic rose again. Her parents couldn't meet Gordon as her fiance, they weren't even dating!

"Now, we'll have to go to you since the gravity on Xeleya would crush a human. When would be a good time to come visit?"

Alara felt her heart racing. They were actually considering this? What was going on here!?

"I'll have to get back to you on that," she said in a rush. "We have a lot of big missions coming up and I don't think you would enjoy being on the ship alone while I'm working." A lie, but enough to buy her time.

"Of course dear," her mother said with a smile. "Check your schedule and let us know soon so we can plan our trip. We are really anxious to meet this human who stole your heart, especially if you believe him to be better than Malik. Talk to you then."

After a few more moments bidding farewell to her parents, Alara was able to end the call. She fell onto her couch and sighed, her hands covering her face.

How had one little white lie turned into something so big. She just wanted Malik to leave her alone!

She ran her hands down her face and stared at the ceiling.

How was she going to explain this to Gordon?


	3. Chapter 3

Gordon was glad to be off duty. Although he really enjoyed his work, today had been boring and he was more than ready to get some sleep.

As he walked down the corridor towards his quarters, he saw Malik walking towards him.

Knowing some of what Malik and Alara had before made Gordon pause for a moment. He even considered going in a different direction, but decided that was stupid. He had nothing to fear from this man. It wasn't like he was going to hit him or something in the corridor when he's trying to get in Alara's good graces.

He continued down the corridor, hoping to just pass by Malik unnoticed, but fate was not on his side.

"Gordon!"

He froze. Damn! He turned and smiled at the Xeleyan. "Malik, how are you?"

Malik smirked, as if he knew something Gordon did not. It was a bit unnerving. "So, you're the man Alara picked over me. Never thought I would be bested by a human, but there you are."

Gordon blinked. Malik had made it very clear his dislike of Gordon all week, glaring at him and Alara whenever he saw the two of them together so this was strange. Gordon continued to smile, however, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Sorry to disappoint you," he replied smoothly. "If you'll excuse me."

Gordon turned to walk away, but Malik's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"Strange though, Alara was talking about you so much I was sure she must have mentioned you to her parents, but they seemed surprised to hear she was dating anyone, let alone a human."

Gordon's mind was racing. Malik had called Alara's parents? What was his game in doing that?

Gordon turned, a smile still upon his face. "We decided to wait before telling them. Alara was concerned about how they would react. You know, with me be human and all." Gordon held back his anger as the lie calmly left his lips. So he was human, so what? His humanity didn't make him inferior to Malik, just different. However, the way Malik said it made it seem as if he was dirt.

Malik chuckled. "Of course. That makes sense. I mean, they had been planning for her to marry a Xeleyan since she was born. I imagine that their daughter being involved with a human would be a huge shock when she and I were so close once."

Gordon took a deep breath. He was not going to be pulled into this with Malik. "I really must go," he said firmly. "See ya." Gordon turned and calmly walked down the corridor, anger flooding his veins.

Gordon barely knew him, but he was already firmly aware of how much he disliked Malik. He would be happy if he never saw him again.

What had Alara seen in that guy? Why did they break up? Gordon didn't know most of the details but suddenly he wanted to know. When they started this ruse he hadn't cared, but if her parents were involved it might be better if he did.

All he knew was they had dated and then Malik had dumped her before she joined the Union. She mentioned that it was not a good break-up and that was all he knew. Not the why of it all, just the bare facts.

He walked towards his quarters only to find the object of his thoughts standing there, a concerned look upon her face. She must have heard the news already.

"Alara?"

"We need to talk," she said firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"Sure," he replied before opening the door to his quarters and escorting her in. "What's up?" He already knew that answer, but asked anyways.

Alara started pacing, her head shaking. Gordon watched for a minute, finding himself thinking that she was cute when she was agitated like this. Her short frame moving across the room, that uniform that seemed to hug her in all the right places. Her face, flushed in agitation and annoyance, her eyes flashing as she thought.

Gordon blinked as the nature of his thoughts hit him.

When had he ever thought Alara was cute?

"Okay," she said drawing him back to her. She had stopped pacing now and was looking right at him. "Malik told my parents about us."

"I know." Alara narrowed her eyes in confusion. "I ran into him on the way here and he told me." She nodded.

"Great, did he also happen to mention that he told them that we were not just dating but we were engaged?"

Gordon blinked. "What?" Surely he had heard wrong. "Did you just say your parents think we are engaged?"

Alara nodded slowly. "Yeah, and they want to meet you." Alara moved around and sat in the nearest chair, her hands covering her face before slowly moving down to her lap.

"They want...to...meet me?"

Alara nodded again. "I can't believe it. I thought for sure my father would talk my mother out of it. He doesn't have the highest opinion of humans after all and I was sure he would convince my mother it was a bad idea or something. Instead SHE convinced HIM to meet you and give you a chance. I..." She looked up at Gordon. "I'm sorry, I never intended for this to go this far."

Gordon looked down at Alara. Over the time they had served together, Gordon had seen her in many stressful situations. Usually she was good at keeping her cool, but there were times when the stress overtook her and caused her to freak out.

This was one of those times.

He sat next to her and took her hand in his. "It'll be alright," he said firmly. "We'll be able to figure out a way around this."

Alara took a deep breath. "I just don't understand why Malik would do this?"

Gordon did. Jealousy, pure and simple.

Malik hated the thought that he was "bested" by a human for Alara's affections. He wanted to do anything he could to get rid of Gordon and getting Alara's father involved was the quickest means to that end. It was well known that Ildis Kitan was not a fan of humans or the military. Just the thought that his daughter would be considering marrying a human and a military man would be enough for the man to interfere.

However, Ildis seemed powerless against his wife's logic. Now they both wanted to meet him and he was sure to be a bigger disappointment than they originally thought.

Why did that thought bother him more than the fact that her parents thought they were engaged when they weren't?

"Maybe I should just come clean."

Gordon blinked at the sound of Alara's voice. She suddenly looked so small and helpless, which he knew was crazy. She was the strong and fierce Alara Kitan!

"What about Malik?"

Alara looked up at Gordon and sighed. "He'll probably laugh about it and then make it about him. He's pretty good at that. I can almost hear his voice. 'Little Alara, so shy about meeting back with me that you pretended some inferior human was your lover to throw me off track. I knew that deep down you wanted me.'"

What was scary was that Gordon could hear Malik saying those things too, and he had only interacted with the man twice. He was overly confident and cocky. He also seemed to see Alara as his property, despite never saying those words out loud. His entire demeanor screamed it.

Honestly, Malik was an asshole and Gordon wanted him off the ship as quickly as possible. He reached over and took Alara's hand, drawing her eyes to his.

"When will your parents arrive?"

Alara blinked at the question. "I-I don't know. I was able to dodge the question claiming we were too busy."

Gordon nodded. "We will be dropping Malik off early next week, maybe sooner if I fly like crazy without Ed noticing. We can drop him off and then you can tell your parents that you dumped me. Malik will be gone and your parents won't have to meet me as your fiance."

Alara's eyes widened. That plan could work. She was surprised that Gordon had thought of it. "It's a great plan! I can just say that you were intimidated by my strength and we ended it. They'll believe that."

It was a convenient excuse. Really, it was. Gordon had already seen how Alara's strength had basically ended a few potential relationships before they had begun. However, Gordon didn't want to mention that he really wasn't intimidated by her strength. Honestly, he was in awe of it.

His hand tightened on hers causing a warmth to flow through Alara that was unexpected. She focused on Gordon's brown eyes. Had they always been that bright? Her heart began to speed up, her cheeks starting to flush. What was this feeling?

Gordon looked into Alara's dark eyes, finding himself transfixed almost. Had they always been that beautiful? It was like he was seeing her for the first time and he liked what he saw. Without knowing that he was doing it, Gordon leaned closer to those warm eyes. Alara did the same, pulled in by the gravitational pull that Gordon seemed to possess in that moment.

The two jumped when the door dinged, their hands pulling from each other. Gordon was looking at her with wide, surprised eyes. Alara watched as the door dinged again and Gordon stood up and answered it.

"Hey man!" she heard John's voice. "Did you forget that we had the simulator booked for this evening?"

"Oh, yeah," Gordon replied. Alara watched as he ran a hand on the back of his head, through his short red hair. "I completely forgot. Let me just change and I'll meet ya there in 5."

"Okay, see ya."

Alara stood as John walked away and Gordon turned to her.

"I should go," she said softly. "I still have some work to finish before I get some sleep tonight."

Gordon nodded. "Yeah, I gotta meet up with John." He almost smacked himself. She knew that, she had just heard their quick conversation. What was wrong with him?

She walked over to him and stopped to look at him before walking through the door back into the corridor. "Thanks again," she said softly with a smile.

He smiled. "Sure."

Alara turned and walked out of Gordon's quarters, her mind still thinking about Gordon's bright eyes and the warmth of his hand on hers, a warmth that was still there now.

Gordon watched the door close and turned to his bedroom to change, the residual feeling of Alara's hand in his causing his hand to tingle as he did.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I've been gone so long. I didn't abandon this story. Just got busy with life and work. Please enjoy!**

Alara felt calmer over the next few days. Knowing that they had a plan to combat Malik's lie about their engagement made everything seem smoother. She didn't even seem to care that Malik was still staring at her when they crossed paths.

She walked onto the bridge feeling relaxed. Gordon was at the helm, flying them as quickly as possible to Outpost 48 and end this lie they were living. If Ed noticed that his pilot had sped up slightly, he said nothing about it.

She sat down at her post and started her checks and listening for messages from the Union. Her normal duties took a lot of her time. As she was reading through a few files she came upon a new message informing her to prepare quarters. She opened it, wondering who they could be needing quarters for as nothing had come forward to her about more passengers in the future.

She quickly scanned the message and blinked. She then re-read the message and her eyes widened in shock.

"Captain?" she said turning around looking at Ed and Kelly with wide eyes.

Ed looked over at her, a smile on his face, as if he already knew what was going on. "Yes Alara?"

"Why do I have a request from you to set up quarters for my parents?"

Alara watched as Gordon stiffened at his station. If she hadn't been aware of him as she was, as she had been over the last few weeks, then she would never have noticed it.

Ed laughed, seemingly unaware of the worry that she was feeling right now. "I wanted it to be a small surprise. Your parents reached out to me stating that they wanted to come and visit but you had insisted you were too busy. Knowing that our schedule was kinda light, I gave them permission to come onboard for a few weeks."

Alara felt the panic start to fill her. What the hell was she going to do now? She hadn't expected her parents to reach out to Ed.

"Captain, surely we are too busy..."

Ed smiled at her. "No trouble. Besides, we aren't that busy. I don't know why you would think so. After Outpost 48, it's really light work."

Alara forced an awkward smile. "I guess I just didn't want to trouble you," she said. "Thank you for helping my parents out. It'll be nice to see them." She turned back to her station, the smile fading. The plan was supposed to be easy, drop off Malik and Alara gives her parents a little break-up story and no one is the wiser.

This was not part of the plan.

Alara read through the information, learning that they would be picking up her parents at Outpost 48 when they dropped off Malik. At least that would be...

She re-read the notes and found that there was yet another problem she hadn't anticipated.

They weren't just dropping off Malik as originally planned. Malik, apparently, had requested the Orville take him back home after the conference and Union officials had agreed.

This meant that they were stuck with Malik for another two weeks after the three day conference was over. Malik and her parents... She almost groaned.

She glanced at Gordon over her shoulder. How would he take this? This request was supposed to be a quick one, not something that was going to blow up like this. She just wanted Malik to back off from her, to leave her alone.

What were they going to do now?

* * *

Gordon was glad that he was done with his shift. He was starving and needed some sleep before he headed back to fly them to Outpost 48. So far, Ed was unaware that he had sped up a bit to get them to their destination days ahead of schedule.

Of course, he hadn't anticipated picking up other passengers when they got there. He sighed. This was just getting more complicated by the minute. However, despite the complications and the fact that he hated things being complicated, Gordon found that he didn't want to end this ruse with Alara. Although he didn't know why that was.

He was heading to the Mess Hall when an arm reached out and pulled him into a room, a room he recognized as Alara's office. He let out a slight yelp at the sudden movement.

His shocked eyes turned to see the arm attached to Alara.

"We have a problem!"

Gordon looked at the panicking security officer and almost laughed. It was not a good sign if your security officer was in a panic. However, he understood her panic. He had almost freaked out too when he heard the news.

"Alara, calm down. What's got you all worked up? Your parents?"

Alara nodded. "Of course that, but..."

Gordon reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, it's okay. I'll just be a few nights. I can make a bad impression and they will be begging you to dump me. Once Malik is off the ship it will be smoother."

Alara shook her head. "You don't understand. Things have changed."

Gordon narrowed his eyes in confusion, a sense of dread washing over him "What are you talking about?"

Alara was on the verge of crying, her eyes were red-rimmed. An overwhelming feeling came over Gordon at that vision of her looking up at him like that. He found that he wanted to pull her against him, kiss her worries away. Mentally he shook that thought away. What the hell was he thinking? He had never thought of kissing Alara before.

"Malik arranged to remain on the Orville after the conference," Alara said, her eyes filling with tears. "He is planning to travel with us to Xelaya to drop off my parents and himself. We will be stuck with him and my parents for the next two weeks after the conference ends."

Gordon took a deep breath, her panic making sense now. It was one thing to act like a jerk in front of her parents to convince them that Gordon was a terrible match for their daughter. However, doing so in front of Malik meant leaving Alara vulnerable to his advances. He also had the added advantage of her parents already liking him, making it easier for him to swoop in and convince them to hound Alara to leave the Union.

The thought of Alara leaving with Malik to return to Xelaya bothered Gordon deeper than he thought it would.

Alara sniffled and wiped her eyes, her face turned from Gordon. Instantly his attention returned to the young woman in front of him. She was freaking out right now. Without thinking, he pulled her closer and held her in his arms, against his chest. She gasped in surprise for a moment at the move before relaxing against him and taking comfort in his presence.

"It'll be okay," he said softly trying to calm her. "We'll just have to keep playing the happy lovers instead. Malik won't bother you anymore."

"And my parents?"

Gordon took a deep breath. That was going to be more of an issue, but he figured that regardless of how "happy" they acted, her parents, especially her father, would still prefer a Xelayan over a human for their daughter and would be okay when they hear the news.

"I don't think it would matter to your father either way," he said. "He'll be excited when you announce the break-up simply because I'm human." Gordon couldn't help feeling a bit upset about that thought, although he tried to hide it.

Gordon's tone at those words made Alara pull back and look up at him. His light brown eyes looked down at her with a curious look. For some reason, hearing those words from Gordon bothered her. It was like he was talking down about himself.

"I don't care what my father thinks," she said firmly. "Human or Xelayan. It doesn't matter to me."

Gordon blinked before giving her a small smile. "That's good, but you should save it until someone can hear it." He started to pull back.

Alara shook her head and placed her hands on Gordon's chest, freezing him in place and keeping his gaze on her.

"Listen to me, you are a fantastic pilot and a great friend. I am glad that I have you to go through this with me and wouldn't want it any other way. It doesn't matter to me one bit that you aren't Xelayan."

Gordon smiled at her again. "Thanks. And for the record, your strength really doesn't bother me. I like that you are strong."

Alara smiled back. He had known that the men she had dated found the fact that she was stronger than them lead them to be intimidated by her, leading to failed relationships. Hearing Gordon say that it didn't bother him filled her with happiness. "Thank you." This was the second time since this whole situation had begun that Gordon had provided her peace in face of her troubles. She liked that about him. He had a way to lighten the mood with almost any situation.

Gordon and Alara stood there, smiling at each other, for several moments, both at peace with this whole crazy situation for the first time.

A throat cleared and both Gordon and Alara turned to the door to find Ed and Kelly standing there. Kelly was looking at them shocked and Ed appeared to be trying to hide his smile behind his hand unsuccessfully.

It was at that moment that both Gordon and Alara realized that they were standing in a very intimate position and both jumped back from each other. Alara's face turned red as she faced Ed and Kelly. Gordon's face also took on a reddish hue.

"Captain, Commander. What can I do for you?"

"Are we interrupting anything?" Kelly said with a quick glance from Alara to Gordon and back again.

Gordon smiled, acting as if they hadn't just walked in on whatever it was that was going on between him and Alara. Gordon didn't even know what it was that they interrupted. "Nope, I was just on my way out," he said before giving a quick reassuring glance to Alara and then quickly moving around the now obviously laughing Ed and out into the corridor.

Once out of sight of the others Gordon ran a hand through his hair and sighed. That was probably the worst thing that could have happened. Ed was not good at keeping a secret most of the time and Kelly would find it amusing once the shock wore off leading to loads of teasing.

This whole "pretend to date to keep Malik from Alara" thing was getting out of control.

However, Gordon found that he couldn't find himself able to regret helping her with it.

"_It doesn't matter to me one bit that you aren't Xelayan." _Alara's words seemed to float about him as he walked. He almost smiled to himself, but stopped.

He shook his head and moved back down the corridor. Time to find some food. He would worry about whatever this was later.

* * *

Alara looked at her commanding officers, trying her best to appear professional despite what had just happened. She hadn't realized that she and Gordon were standing so close. She hadn't thought anyone would come in either.

Not that it mattered. There wasn't anything really going on between her and Gordon. He was just helping out a friend. That was all.

So, why did she feel so weird now? Why did it bother her to remember that this wasn't real? She could still feel Gordon's warmth against her as he held her, his hands on her arms, the feel of his chest under her hands.

She shook her hands, trying to will the feeling away, as she moved around her desk to put some distance between herself and the other two in the office. Somehow she thought that would help with the embarrassment she was feeling.

Ed was turning red in the face and wasn't looking at her, his shoulders were shaking and at one point he actually turned away from her. Kelly gave him a sideways glare before turning back to Alara.

"We wanted to check on you since you seemed disturbed about your parents' arrival. However, I think I can guess why that was."

Alara took a deep breath. "Oh?"

"You were trying to keep your... whatever with Gordon a secret from them."

Alara tried and failed to keep herself from blushing again. Why did this bother her? She could just explain it all to them. They would understand, she was sure. She licked her lips and went to explain.

Then Ed couldn't hold his laughter in anymore and just started to laugh out loud. The sudden sound startled both the women in the room as he turned to them with a wide smile.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, with a light tone. "It's just the idea of Gordon with Alara makes me laugh. I just don't see it. It's such a mix-match."

For some reason that ruffled Alara more than anything else. Gordon was a great guy to help her out with this. "Why is that Captain?" she said, her tone lowering, suddenly angry.

Kelly seemed to read that Alara's tone was a bit more aggressive now, but unfortunately Ed did not.

"I mean, you are super strong and one of the youngest security officers in the Union. Quite a feat! Gordon is the best pilot for sure, but honestly he isn't the brightest guy around. Not to mention the age difference. It just seems like it's one-sided."

Alara's eyes narrowed, her voice taking a deadly tone. "I think that Gordon is a wonderful person and, despite his lack of textbook knowledge, I find that he makes up for it in many other ways." Alara picked up a small paperweight from her desk. It crunched in her hand as she squeezed it, making it clear that this was not a subject she approved of. "Our ages may be different, but our mindsets are quite similar at times."

Ed's laughter died as he seemed to get the message that he had pissed Alara off. He tried to backtrack. "I didn't mean anything against Gordon or you," he said quickly. "He's one of my best friends. It's just..."

"Just what?" Alara said, her tone and glare almost scaring Ed now. Her hand tightened, the paperweight crunched again.

Kelly quickly jumped in. "I think that it just took Ed by surprise, both of us by surprise." Ed quickly nodded, grateful that Kelly had come to his rescue.

"Yeah, it was just surprising is all," Ed said quickly before turning quickly towards the door with a quick excuse that he was running late now. Kelly turned to follow, taking a quick glance back at Alara as she did. Her gaze indicated that they would be talking later.

It was only once she was alone again that Alara realized exactly what had just happened. She had defended her fake relationship with Gordon. She had even taken a threatening tone with her captain. Why hadn't she just explained it? Kelly would have understood and Ed would have gotten it. So why lie?

She looked at the mangled paperweight in her hand. She sighed and set it on the desk before sitting, placing her head in her hands.

Maybe this was getting out of control. She should just come clean. Gordon was a great friend to help her with this, but this was her mess and she needed to clean it up.

She heard the door ring and lifted her head. "Come in," she said firmly.

The door opened and Malik walked in, a smirk on his face.

"Hello Alara," he said softly as the door closed behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own The Orville. Enjoy!**

Alara stood, her frame tense. "Malik? What are you doing here?"

Malik moved over and took a seat across from her, his whole body relaxed as if he held all the cards.

"How are things?"

Alara glared at him. "You told my parents about my relationship with Gordon," she said firmly. "That was way out of line."

Malik shrugged. "Our families have always been close," he replied. "I just thought they would appreciate some insight into the man their youngest daughter had chosen. Imagine my surprise when they didn't even know about him." His eyes seemed to gleam. "It's almost like he didn't exist before."

Alara rolled her eyes. "You've met Gordon, you know that he exists."

Malik smiled, a lazy smile she had seem millions of time before. It used to thrill her to see it. Now it disgusted her.

"Of course the _man_ exists," he said calmly. "I was talking of the relationship. If I didn't know any better, I would think that it didn't exist until I came on board. Strange."

"Why would you say that?" Alara said firmly, keeping calm externally. Internally her heart was pounding. Had Malik figured it out?

Malik stood, placing his hands on her desk and leaning over towards her. "Come on," he said with a knowing smirk. "I know you Alara. I'm sure running into me again was a surprise. You were embarrassed to find yourself facing the future you threw away so carelessly and made up a fake relationship. Just admit it."

Malik walked around the desk towards her. Alara's eyes widened as she watched the movement, but she said nothing.

"You can still have that future. I'm right here, waiting for you to make a move. Surely by now you've realized that joining the military and leaving Xelaya was wrong. You belong to me."

Alara's eyes narrowed. "I belong to no one."

Malik laughed. "So, you really don't belong to that human then." He reached out a hand towards her, as if to touch her face. "I knew that couldn't be..."

Alara slapped his hand with such force Malik stopped moving. Alara was good and angry now.

"I don't belong to Gordon just as Gordon doesn't belong to me. It's an equal partnership with us, something an egotistical bastard like yourself would never understand. What we have is real and strong, unlike the broken relationship you want to force upon me."

Malik's smile was gone now, his eyes holding Alara's. "There is no way that inferior creature is equal to a Xelayan," he said firmly. "Your family will never approve of him."

Alara walked over to the door and pressed a button, causing the door to open. She turned back to Malik.

"Whether they approve of him or not is of no concern to me," she said firmly. "I care about him, in a way that I never would or could care about you." She gestured towards the door. "This conversation is over."

Malik's eyes were narrowed now. He was actually angry at her. Alara wasn't too worried though. She was furious and was sure that she could handle anything he dished out.

He walked over to the door and stopped before her, his eyes glaring down at her, looking down on her as he always had. She had just been too young to realize it before.

"You'll regret choosing him," he said firmly. "When that time comes, I'll be there to pick up the pieces."

"Good-bye Malik," she said firmly, ignoring his words.

Malik turned and walked out the door. It closed and Alara let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Just thinking about Malik's arrogance upset Alara more than anything else. How dare he talk about Gordon that way, as if he was just a bug under his boot. Gordon respected her and treated her like an equal, something Malik knew nothing about.

Gordon was funny and kind. He always knew how to make her feel better. She was lucky to have him in her life. Her parents would accept him too with over time. He was great for her, perfect even.

Alara shook her head at her thoughts. He was perfect for her, as a friend, she reminded herself. This was all a ruse. She wasn't actually dating Gordon. She sighed as she moved back to her desk.

Today had been crazy. She needed to relax and get back to work.

* * *

Gordon heard the ding at his door. He walked over and opened it to find a smiling Ed standing in front of him.

"Oh, hey Ed," he said smiling. "What's up?"

Ed wasted no time entering Gordon's rooms. "So, how long has this thing with Alara been going on?"

Gordon smiled. He figured that Alara probably told them all about what had happened. "A few weeks. It isn't that big a deal or anything."

Ed laughed. "The way Alara was talking about you I would have thought you guys had been dating for a long time."

Gordon blinked. "Really?" Didn't she explain what they were doing?

Ed flopped down on the sofa. "Yeah, I was thinking that you two were a mix-match and Alara almost lost it. It was crazy."

Gordon sat down, taking in all the information. "Lost it? What do you mean?"

"I was commenting on how I thought you two seemed like a strange pairing and Alara got pretty upset. I pointed out how it just seems one-sided to me and she got a bit upset, almost took my head off."

Gordon wasn't sure how to take that information. On the one hand, if he and Alara were dating then it would be one-sided. Alara was younger and more successful than himself and...

He shook that thought out of his head. They weren't dating. None of those thoughts mattered. All they had to do was get through this and then it would be like nothing happened. Nothing at all...

That was a depressing thought.

"Yeah... one-sided..."

Ed looked at Gordon, his smile fading. Gordon looked very serious. Was this serious? "Gordon, just how serious is this with Alara?"

Gordon's eyes widened and he looked up at Ed. "Serious? What are you talking about?"

Ed raised an eyebrow. "You just seemed upset, like the idea of you two not working out would, I don't know, devastate you or something. I thought that it was just a fling type of situation, but with the way Alara acted and now you..." Ed shrugged. "It's gotta be serious."

Gordon took a deep breath. This was getting way out of hand now. This wasn't a serious relationship. Hell, there wasn't a relationship, not really. How could he explain that to Ed? Alara hadn't. He was so confused.

"Her parents want to come onboard...to meet me," he said firmly.

"Oh!" Ed's voice was serious now. Suddenly the whole idea of Alara and Gordon dating didn't seem so funny. "It is serious."

Gordon rolled his eyes. "You don't know the half of it," he muttered under his breath. Ed didn't hear him, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Gordon let out a breath and smiled. "Let's not talk about this anymore," Gordon said. "Everything will work out. I'm not worried."

Ed looked at Gordon with wide eyes. "You should be! If you are meeting her parents then this must be a serious relationship and they will be asking you about the future between the two of you. You need to have those answers. If you don't, they will eat you alive!"

Gordon blinked. The idea of meeting Alara's parents did bother him slightly, but...

"_I don't care what my father thinks. Human or Xelayan. It doesn't matter to me."_

Those words made any worries melt away. He didn't know why they did, but somehow they lifted him up.

"Ed," he said with a smile. "Alara's is the only opinion I care about. I believe that even if her parents objected to me, she won't care."

Ed looked at his best friend carefully. Gordon was always a joker and full of energy, but this calmness was different. He had never known Gordon to be okay with 'meeting the parents' or being in a serious relationship. He wasn't the marrying type so he avoided being that close to anyone.

This... this was different.

For a moment he wondered if it was possible that Gordon cared about Alara far deeper than he realized. When he and Kelly walked into Alara's office, Gordon had been holding Alara in his arms and Alara's hands were on Gordon's chest, they were smiling at each other softly and Ed's first reaction was to laugh.

It had seemed impossible, incredible and unlikely. The idea was crazy!

But Alara's reaction and Gordon's response made it seem like it wasn't crazy. It wasn't unlikely. It had happened. It wasn't funny anymore.

Ed smiled. It was about time Gordon found someone, and he would do everything he could to help his friend.


End file.
